A 17-year-old Icelandic boy was startled and disturbed when he received unsolicited text messages from the neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), which appears to be mass text messages seeking new members. The group has had a special interest in Iceland for several years now.
The NRM is a violent white supremacist organisation with varying levels of activity across Scandinavia. While Iceland is not exactly fertile ground for such an organisation, Stundin reports they are stepping up efforts in recruitment.
“Iceland needs national socialism and Iceland needs Nordic opposition,” the first text reads, including a link to their Icelandic homepage. This is followed by another text reading, “MUSLIMLESS ICELAND! Join up with us.”
Jökull Ingi Þorvaldsson, a 17-year-old from Kópavogur, received this message on the afternoon of August 20.
“I was walking out of a shop when the first message came and I just thought ‘fuck’,” Jökull told Stundin. “I’ve heard of this group before. But when the second text came, I just lost it. I felt a mix of fear and rage. How many young people, or people in general, have received these texts, perhaps even kids who are in mixed families? Its awful that this should happen in Iceland. I hope that whoever bears responsibility for this is made to answer for it, and that this virus never takes hold in our country.”
The texts themselves may be illegal on account of two different Icelandic laws. The Post and Telecom Administration in Iceland expressly forbids mass texting for the purposes of recruitment in a political organisation or party. Secondly, there is also Article 233(a) of the General Penal Code, also known as Iceland’s hate speech law.
Attempts to call the number from which the texts were sent were unsuccessful.
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